Loving the Sandman
by Sophia Feros
Summary: As Sakura starts to have a relationship with Gaara another who is also dear to her starts to have feelings for her. gaaraxsakura and a little sakuraxkakashi my first fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

Loving the Sandman

What was this safety she felt?

Sakura angled her neck upwards to peer at the shinobi's calm, still face. Dark circles encased his now closed eyes. A pale face with no marks or scars, fitted with soft lips light bruised from their earlier entanglements. His red locks brushing against her wide forehead making her shiver feverishly.

Passion? Desire? Lust? No, this feeling was—love.

His embrace held her tightly not wanting to ever loosen. Here, she lay in the lean yet strong arms of the man who once aimed to kill her. 'I don't understand'. The attraction that pulls her in his arms feels so alien yet so familiar. Tears were brimming at her eyes. 'What if this feeling was to leave her? Who would she hold forever?' Sakura rapidly blinked them away.

'When have tears saved you? When did tears make you stronger? When did tears bring Sasuke back'! She mentally slapped herself but the pain was all too real.

Ha. Sasuke. 'Why on this blessed earth am I thinking about Sasuke when I have Gaara in my arms? Gaara has always protected you. He was there when you needed to be saved. Gaara has been training with you to make you stronger muscles and heart. Most of all, he has never left my side'!

The pink haired kunoichi smiled and snuggled even closer, if that was even possible, and took a deep breath of his intoxicating scent. Oranges with a hint of pineapple, no longer the dreadful bloodbath it once was.

Sakura quietly chuckled at the red-haired shinobi and gently twirled his hair away from the once covered kanji on his forehead. She softly but passionately kissed his love kanji, while caressing his chin and neck.

"I –really—love you".Sakura whispered between kisses.

Sakura pulled away. Moments passed between the two. Gaara's eyes, still not opening made no reply. Their breaths began to synchronize with each other. Sakura tensed for she felt a rise in her heart, waiting for an answer. Her eyes were pleaing for a reply. Nothing. She untensed and relaxed once again. The kunoichi was about to turn away on her other side when a rather small hand took hold and brought her near again.

"You know," the sand man said barely audible. Sakura's eyes lit up once more. Gaara continued. "I really love you too…" he said softly but surely.

"I really, really mean it…"

I'm not sure if I should make this a multi-chapter fiction or not…you tell me because I have a possible continuation in my mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Soft Hands 

Silky, long strands of pink hair surrounded a face the people of Konoha said was chiseled out by Kami-sama himself. Her lush, large green eyes are pure and innocent yet intoxicating to every man. Accompanying those eyes, a nose small and slender. Creamy light skin soft and smooth reflected against her old team 7 river, underneath the bridge. Biting on her full lips, the color of light cherry blossoms, she was holding back the laughter. Rocking back and forth on her picnic blanket she played with her hair. Sakura blushed madly.

Suddenly she felt a familiar chakra nearby.

"Kakashi?"

Sakura whipped around. He waved to her then mysteriously poofed off. Sakura sighed. 'Well that's Kakashi for you.' She decided not to let it get to her and resumed her giggles and excitement.

"What should I wear?" She said thinking aloud.

Two Hours Earlier ………

Gaara sat on the rooftop leaning against the railing, deeply breathing. Sakura had poofed a few feet away. The kunoichi stayed there hoping he hadn't noticed. She sometimes liked to stare at his back memorizing it with her eyes. He made no motion to acknowledge her.

"I know your there."

Sakura stepped forward and placed a palm on his hands.

"You have soft hands," Sakura said quietly.

Gaara jolted backwards giving a deathly glare. Sakura smiled.

"Aren't we jumpy?" Gaara's only respond was silence.

"Well, your silence and glares won't work on me!" Sakura yelled fiercely proudly holding up her head like a trophy.

'The view is nice'. Yes…maybe if I keep on thinking that I'll be able to block her out. Gaara sighed. 'Isn't she beautiful'.

**. . . What?**

"What the hell is your problem!" Gaara snapped out.

Sakura stopped talking, her mouth slightly open. She was driving him even crazier than he already was naturally. Blabbing on like that, beautifully. Gaara had a tint of pink flash on his face. He prayed to Shukaku she hadn't seen it. Too bad.

Sakura laughed. 'What wonderful music to his ears.'

"Okay," Sakura paused. "Pick me up tomorrow 6'o clock. We can go out to eat. Got it? Don't be late! "What!" Gaara shouted. "Bye now!" Sakura had already poofed off, leaving an aroma of cherry blossoms. Gaara kicked his foot on a stone.

"Shit!"…

"I don't know where she lives!"

At that moment, a kunai flashed nearby him. CLANK! The kunai was imbedded into the railing a few feet. 'Ambush?' He thought bewildered. No…he couldn't sense anyone or intent to kill (besides his own). He saw the kunai had a tag tied to it. 'Explosive tag!' A thin barrier of sand wrapped around him, as he waited for the KABOOM. Nothing. 'Geez, the assassins are pretty low-rate. Don't they know an explosive tag won't work for— wait. I don't think it's an explosive tag.

"What!"

It read:

_Hey! I'm so sorry Gaara! My house is right near Naruto's except when you get to the neighborhood turn left.You can't miss it. I can't believe you asked me out to dinner! How nice of you. Well, See you tomorrow!_

_-Sakura-_

_P.S. Dinners on you._

"I can't wait." Gaara said, sarcasm oozing from his lips.

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That's the end of chapter 2. Reviews are my inspiration. So please, R&R. lol.School starts tomorrow! So, I probably will update once a week at the latest! I am having so much trouble posting this! When you read this I want you to know it took me 2 hours to post this thing!SERIOUSLY!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I'm pretty sure this is my story.

The reason I haven't posted since last month was because I am/was really sad because I wrote the whole chapter on paper and was ready to type it but then I lost my notebook. It was under my mom's stuff. THEN, after I finally typed it up, I had to go to play practice and I flicked off the screen of my computer and went. When I came back the computer was off and I hadn't saved the revised chapter. SO, then I began to get mad. I went into a punching, slapping, kicking my face and arms and crying alot, kind of thing and I didn't write any stories for a couple of days. I am sorry for how I am a very irresponsible child and doesn't remember the basics of saving a Word document.

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She's really something.

Kakashi paced across his room running his hand through his silver locks. 'Sakura probably thinks I'm some weirdo stalker. Me, waving off like a doofus(little did he know she didn't really care.)' Kakashi stopped his pacing and sat on his bed. The ninja was stressing himself out. He was _not_ acting like the calm, slouched ninja he appeared to be in public. He started breathing slower and headed out to the team 7 training grounds. A spar would do well to calm his nerves.

Team 7 training grounds

The kunoichi took a broad stride and firmly placed her foot down as she bent her knees an inch. Sakura tilted her body slightly forward with her left hand arched behind her like a spring, fingers relaxed spread out comfortably. She raised her right arm shoulder length, 2 inches from her body having the hand leaning to the left. Sakura closed her eyes counted to 10. 'I'll do it just like Neji taught me…'

1,2,…Her breathing began to slow, as her heartbeat became a faint murmur to her mind. 3,4…All her thoughts drifted away as the rivers drift to the seas. 5,6… 'now' Her chakra rushed through her body. She pictured her chakra lace around her arms,legs, hands, face, and fingertips.7,8…I'm ready. 9…10…!

"Hup!"

Her eyes sharply opened. Jumping 20 feet into the air, she shot chakra from her fingertips, each hitting the bullseye on the target practice. 'I can do this', she said. Flipping backwards, she landed crouched on her feet. She did a low kick to twirl herself upwards to her earlier stance. Maintaining a stable chakra amount around her body, she began a series of taijutsu punches and kicks some even propelling chakra into the air to hit a target board.

It was truly a sight. Her speed accelerated as her chakra blazed in the training ground. From afar the entire field seemed to be engulfed in blue flames.

Kakashi sat perched in perched in the dark trees. He smiled a masked smile. 'She has definetely improved her taijutsu. What is this mixture of high-level skills? She has been going on continually for a little over 3 hours.' He applauded her on stamina. Controlling chakra around herself and still giving off massive waves of chakra in almost every attack must have taken stenuos training sessions everyday. Though he could see her heavy breaths and sweat rolling down her trained body…

He felt a dwindle in chakra force. His droopy eye became sharper. 'Sakura must be at her limit.' Kakashi jumped from the tree and slid across the damp grass.

Her eyelids grew heavy but she insisted on smiling. "I did it…" She fell slowly into strong arms that wrapped her small frame. "Yes…yes you did…"

…Blah blah blah…

Sakura awoke to be laying on a beige couch. 'mmm…' Sakura bolted straight upwards. '…!' Not. My. House. Before she should could scream a wet towel slid from her forehead. Scanning her surroundings, she found a nonchalant ninja reading his _'Icha Icha Violence'_ while whistling a happy tune. In front of her, a wooden coffee table with a cup of green tea on it. Whispering her thanks, she sat upright to take a sip.

"Had a nice nap I presume?" Kakashi said not lifting his gaze from his…_magazine_. Sakura's ears glowed a bright pink, knowing she had caused his some trouble. To save her from the embarrassment he shifted his topic.

"That's a decent jutsu you've aquired." Sakura smiled at the words. That was his own little way to say 'tell me about the technique.' 'Kakashi, I know you too well.' She thought.

"I based it off of Neji's 64-strikes, but since I don't Byakugan, I also trained with Lee combining gentle fist with iron fist to create a style that suited me well." There was an akward silence. The type of silence you have after a lame joke dies out. This girl, the crybaby, the weakling, the follower was becoming one of the leading ninja's in this Konoha era. Sakura took a sip to break the silence.

"Creating your own jutsu is one of the requirements for ANBU, surely you've been thinking about--" The silver haired ninja stopped.

The hair tie slipped its hold on her hair as her cherry locks flew across her face. Her head to the ground staring at the little ants fight over a bread crumb. The china tea cup shook in Sakura's hand. It hurt so much. The feeling to just run out of the room to scream and cry until the eyes were red-rimmed and the skin flaky from the tears salt. But Sakura is a shinobi, taught by the fourth's student. Crying solves nothing. She slapped on her best smile and looked upwards.

"No, I haven't." Regaining her posture with a wince, she continued .

"Jounins a high enough rank for me, and between the hospital and A-class missions, It's enough."

Sakura knew he saw through her. She felt his concern and let her guilt level rise.

"I'll be leaving--." Sakura jawed dropped and riggidly looked to Kakashi.

"What time…is it…?"

"5 PM."

'Thank goodness, I have an hour to get ready for my… '_date_.' Sakura grinned evily, rubbing her hands together. "See you later Kakashi! I have a matter of business to attend to." She made a quick hand seal and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Cherry blossoms…I can smell them…"

…Blah blah blah…

Sakura draped a bathrobe around herself and looked into the wall length mirror. After 53 minutes, she peered at herself in the mirror once more, a satisfied smirk danced upon her face. Her long hair was curled at the ends, while two bangs fluttered like the butterflies in her stomach. A stunning, pink cherry blossom hair clip separated her hair at the side. The black dress was, well, some would say 'skimpy' but Sakura could care less. Lastly, she strapped a kunai holster underneath her dress, and fixed on her poison-dart earrings.

At 5:59, all the dust, and sand began to stir and swirl, forming a very handsome-looking Gaara behind her. His hands rested on her shoulders, and whispered, lips tickling her ear.

"Ready to go?"

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I really did try to make it longer since Darklord4ever suggested that. I don't know, its hard for me to write long since I'm 13 and everyone at fanfiction is like...16 Um…please R&R and I will try to update when I can! I really cherish every review I get so, thanks! hugs random person lol.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello! The reason I haven't updated at all is because I had no will to! My life has all of a sudden become hell. I hate counselors. I wish they would get out of my life. I don't hate the counselors...I just hate what their job is. ANYWAYS.A BIG THANKYOU for all 20 reviews so far!!! I cherish every single one!!!!

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto.

Chapter 4 

There she was, gliding along the bricked street next to the pale, non-talkative man with the looks of a god. Street lamps flickered as they passed by. The scent of bubbling spices deep from Southern Japan filled their noses, while roasting geese rotated on sticky pikes, sweet sauce running down from the plump birds wings. The very essence of the night was glowing. Their hands were linked together, twitching nervously at each step they would take.

It seemed Sakura's inner self became her outer self whenever she was near Gaara, and right now her inner/outer self felt really wicked. She wanted to spice things up a bit. She pulled close to him and wrapped her arms around him, gently pressing her chest against his arm. He gave an odd stare and said, "What are you doing?" Sakura batted her eyes vuluptously and sensually replied, "Why, I'm just getting cozy," leaning in after ever word. Gaara dismissed all X-rated thoughts from his head and continued to briskly walk ahead, Sakura bumping along.

"So where are we going?" Sakura genuinly wanted to know.

"My house."

"You have a restraunt at your house!?"

"No... It's called I actually know how to cook. I thought it would be more…romantic." He managed to mumble out.

Sakura's eyes glistened, moved by every word. "When did you learn how to cook?" She exclaimed.

"You see, I used to cook humans and it takes a lot of hand work to properly cook a human.

Sakura vomitted.

"It was a joke. . ."

Sakura stepped on his foot. "Don't gross me out like that!" "You're right I shouldn't. Besides, I always kill my victims by sand. It is a much cleaner process. Think about. If you had to cook it, you'd have to gut it, take the eyeballs and brain out…" Sakura stepped on his foot. Hard. "Don't make me vomit on you!!" Gaara closed his mouth but grumbled out, "You were the one who started talking about cooking! I'm not even a big fan of cannibalism." Sakura gagged loudly, which gave Gaara a nice big hint to remain silent.

Sakura dropped to the floor, laughing like a maniac. His kitchen had a simple white tiled floor with the occasional crack. A sturdy iron stove along with the assortment of non-decorative silverware. Nothing was broken mis-shaped or out of place. But any sane man or woman could clearly see what our favorite pink-haired daredevil was laughing at. "Who would of thought Gaara, the menacing, merciless, and fearsome Kazekage, has a flower printed apron!?" Sakura declared.

"Shut up. This one is Temari's." He stated in defence.

"Oh yeah? Does yours have teddy bears?" Sakura jeered.

A wave of sand came towards her, pinning her against the wall. His cheek pressing against hers, as he licked her collar bone. Sakura shivered but smirked faintly. " Is this my punishment for being the coy little girl I am?" His response was a bit more simple. "Don't make fun of my teddy bear apron." "I wouldn't dream of it." "Yeah, you would." "No, I wouldn't." "You just did."

"…"

He began caressing her neck and chin. She first resisted, but her mind soon registered out of order. She knew he was going to kiss her. She could feel his breathes heat her face. 'Will he bite me? I'm scared.' Many thoughts raced through her mind she was thinking up all the different senerios that played out her first kiss. I feel pathetic. I'm 17 years old and I have never gotten a kiss before; not even on the cheek by a boy. Sadly, the gods decided now was not the time for _THE KISS_ as her stomach let out a deep hunger grumble. Completely ruining the moment, Sakura stated very blantly, "The goza is burning." Sakura was mercilessly dropped on the floor as the now very (emo)tional Gaara tended to the now half-burnt goza. Sakura sighed. 'So much for a dinner date. I didn't eat lunch today.' Sakura innerly self sobbed quietly, '**Fooooood…**'

Sakura tried to lighten the mood, by whipping out an imaginary recorder, imitating a radio show host. "Hey everybody, here's a fun fact about Gaara #128!! Although this red-haired creature remains unemotional in many circumstances, these rigid pale creatures have a strange compulsive act of being perfectionist in cooking! Unfortunately these newly found creatures are not on sale at any pet store near you!!!" Sakura smiled warmly and shook his body. "Don't worry mister angry pants. The soba noodles are fine."

The night went on quickly, complete with playful chopstick stabbings, noodle stranglings, and unrulely pinching battles. Though by nightfall, Sakura was already asleep against Gaara's shoulder. **(AWW!)**

"Wake up. By the way, you look like shit." Sakura groggily raised an eyebrow. "Well I am _SO SORRY _my eyeliner isn't permanent unlike some." The sky was still dark with a warm orange peeking in at the horizon. '5 o'clock.' "Hey Gaara, I've got a mission to the Mizukage. A few assasssinations, nothing too big. Apparently big enough to have a partner. Tch. That Tsunade still thinks I'm weak. Oh well. Later then?"

"Whatever." Gaara said uncaringly.

Tsunade's office… 

"Now that that's settled, let's have a talk, shall we?" Tsunade twirled around her chair. "You are dating that Gaara aren't you?" Sakura gave a questional look. Tsunade stated, "Don't do anything stupid. I know you are 17 and able to make your own decisions, but you've got some guys on your tail." Tsunade winked outside the window to a certain silver-haired ninja. Kakashi flustered, jumped from the window still. Sakura couldn't help but stiffle a chuckle. "I consider him to be a 2nd father, Tsunade." "Well that's nice to know, considering he is your new partner for this mission. In fact, I'll break the news to you. I've set up permanent partners for those that have shown the best compatibility working together. I've placed Ino and Asuna together, along with Sasuke and Naruto partnership. "So, Kakashi and I are together then." Sakura said finishing her sentence.

Sakura's heart and stomach lept and fluttered. Sakura loved him dearly but recently sometimes when they would be alone, her heart would pound, and it would take all her might to keep her face from turning into an over-sized inferno cherry! 'How can I have this feeling? He's my teacher, a father figure, a hot figure for that matter. NO!' She shook her head. "Uh, yes… that's perfectly fine!" Sakura flashed an overly confident grin when she just wanted to die.

The masked ninja leaned against the wall, his face burning. He leaned against the wall for support, and gasped out, "I'm gonna die…"

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read and review please. My friend just got a fanfiction and she writes better than me... so. you can check it out! **_Hope's Shadow_**


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